Lied von der Erde, Das

Symphony for mezzo, tenor, and orchestra by Gustav Mahler. The words are from Hans Bethge's anthology of German translations of Chinese poetry, Die chinesische Flöte: 1. (Li-Tai-Po) Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde/The Drinking-Song of Earth's Misery; 2. (Tchang-Tsi) Der Einsame im Herbst/The Lonely One in Autumn; 3. (Li-Tai-Po) Von der Jugend/Of Youth: 4. (Li-Tai-Po) Von der Schönheit/Of Beauty; 5. (Li-Tai-Po) Der Trunkene im Frühling/The Drunkard in Spring; 6. (Mong-Kao-Yen and Wang-We) Der Abschied/The Farewell). The work was composed in 1908 and first performed in Munich, Germany, on 20 November 1911, after Mahler's death.

Mahler himself referred to the piece as a symphony, but named it differently, and refused to give it a number, as his previous symphony had been numbered 8. A highly superstitious man, he was terrified by the prospect of writing a Symphony no. 9, as Beethoven, Schubert, and Bruckner had all died after or during the composition of their ninth symphonies.